Celebration for new extra care scheme

A groundbreaking ceremony has been held to mark the start of work on a new extra care housing scheme for older people in Settle.

Guests from Housing 21, North Yorkshire County Council, Craven District Council and Keepmoat gathered at the site to celebrate the start of construction on the 50 apartment scheme at Lower Greenfoot.

Victoria Barclay, Regional Operations Director for Housing 21 said: “We’re delighted to see this exciting development getting underway. Extra care housing enables older people to enjoy independent living along with 24 hour care and support on site, making it an excellent alternative to more traditional approaches.”

The new development will provide one and two bedroom apartments for people aged 55 and over. The state of the art scheme will also be the new home of the Settle library and Registrars’ Office and will provide other community facilities including a restaurant, resource room, communal lounges, well-being suite and hairdressing salon.

Extra Care schemes represent the best in partnership working with the county and district councils working together with housing associations and building contractors to create state-of-the art facilities.

Care and support is delivered according to assessed needs and extra care can also provide high levels of community nursing as well as end-of-life palliative care.

Extra Care enables couples to stay together and have their families to stay and for people to keep their pets.

Fifteen Extra Care housing schemes are already in operation across the county, with a further five in development. Of the fifteen in operation, 10 of them have replaced county council owned elderly persons’ homes (EPHs).

The county council is looking to revolutionise care and support for the vulnerable as well as older people with the delivery of a further 30 Extra Care housing schemes with a range of tenure options across the county by 2020 to meet demand.

County Councillor Clare Wood, North Yorkshire’s Executive Member for Adult Social Care said: “This is a really exciting moment for Settle as this development will be of great benefit to the community and is absolutely at the cutting edge of where social care should be going.”

Craven District Council Lead Member for Housing, Councillor Richard Foster, said: “This much needed development will not only provide supported accommodation for people aged 55 or over but will also be a community hub, hosting a number of facilities that will be a fantastic resource for the local community.”

The new development will provide one and two bedroom apartments for people aged 55 and over. The state of the art scheme will also be the new home of the Settle library and Registrars’ Office and will provide other community facilities including a restaurant, resource room, communal lounges, well-being suite and hairdressing salon.

The £6.2 million scheme, which will complete around June 2014, will provide options for affordable rent or purchase.

Mark Knight, Keepmoat’s New Build Managing Director for Yorkshire, said: “We are very proud to be working on this exciting new development. We recognise that age should not be a barrier to the way people live their lives and schemes such as this reflect that approach.

“Keepmoat has worked with Housing 21 on similar projects across the country and we are confident that this development will prove popular with older people looking for housing which is independent, safe and secure.